''Truly Fine Citizen'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966. Part of San Francisco's psychedelic music scene, the band merged elements of rock and roll, folk music, pop, blues, and country. They were one of the few groups of which all members were lea ...

. It was released on July 30, 1969, by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. After completing the album, the band went on hiatus until 1971 when they reunited with

Skip Spence Alexander "Skip" Spence (born Alexander Lee Spence, Jr.; April 18, 1946 – April 16, 1999) was a Canadian-born American singer-songwriter and musician. He was co-founder of Moby Grape, and played guitar with them until 1969. In the same year, h ...

and Bob Mosley to record the reunion album, '' 20 Granite Creek''.

Background

After the departure of Bob Mosley, the remaining trio headed to Nashville where they cut this album in just three days with legendary Columbia Records producer

Bob Johnston Donald William "Bob" Johnston (May 14, 1932 – August 14, 2015) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Leonard Cohen, and Simon & Garfunkel. Early life and career Johnston was born into a profe ...

. This album fulfilled the band's contract with Columbia Records. At the time, the band was in the midst of legal disputes with their manager,

Matthew Katz Matthew Katz (December 20, 1929 – September 30, 2023) was an American music manager and producer, most notably as the manager of Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape and It's a Beautiful Day. He was the owner of the record label San Francisco Sound, a ...

, with the result that certain songs written by band members were instead credited to their road manager, Tim Dell'Ara. In particular, songs written by

Jerry Miller Jerry Miller (July 10, 1943 – July 20, 2024) was an American songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. He performed as a solo artist and as a member of the Jerry Miller Band. He was also a founding member of the 1960s San Francisco band Moby Grape, ...

and

Don Stevenson Don Stevenson (born October 15, 1941) is the American drummer and a singer and songwriter for Moby Grape, a band which was formed in San Francisco in 1966 and continues to perform occasionally today. Biography Born October 15, 1941, in Seattle, ...

became Tim Dell'Ara songs, to counter Matthew Katz withholding royalties on previous recordings.Moby Grape discussion group--"More B. Grape" thread
May 17, 2004. Replacing Bob Mosley on bass was famed Nashville session musician

Bob Moore Bob Moore may refer to: * Bob Moore (musician) (1932–2021), American session musician * Bob Moore (executive) (1929–2024), co-founder of Bob's Red Mill * Bob Moore (American football) (born 1949), American football tight end * Bob Moore (Au ...

, who had played bass on many

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

sessions and was one of the founders of

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

, for many years the recording home of

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

gave the album a "C+" and wrote, "In which what should have been America's greatest rock group gasps its last. Quite mediocre, despite a couple of lovely Peter Lewis songs."

Track listing

Side one

# "Changes, Circles Spinning" ( Peter Lewis) – 2:27 # "Looper" (Lewis) – 3:02 # "Truly Fine Citizen" (Tim Dell'Ara) – 1:47 # "Beautiful Is Beautiful" (Dell'Ara) – 2:29 # "Love Song" (Dell'Ara) – 2:22

Side two

# "Right Before My Eyes" (Lewis) – 2:02 # "Open Up Your Heart" (Dell'Ara) – 2:36 # "Now I Know High" (Lewis) – 6:10 # "Treat Me Bad" (Dell'Ara) – 2:17 # "Tongue-Tied" (

) – 2:01 # "Love Song, Part Two" (Dell'Ara) – 2:41

Bonus tracks on 2007 CD edition

# "Rounder"

ive Ive or IVE may refer to: Music * Ive (group), a South Korean girl group * I've Sound (aka "I've"), a Japanese musical group People * Ive (given name), a Croatian and Slovenian given name * Bert Ive (1875–1939), British-born Australian cinema ...

(Spence) – 2:02 # "Miller’s Blues"

(Miller, Bob Mosley) – 6:06 # "Changes"

(Miller,

) – 4:17 # "Skip’s Song" Seeing" Demo(Spence) – 3:26 # "Looper" emo, previously unreleased(Lewis) – 2:06 # "Soul Stew" nstrumental, previously unreleased(Mosley) – 2:18 # "Cockatoo Blues" Tongue-Tied" Demo, previously unreleased(Miller, Spence) – 3:41

Personnel

* Peter Lewis -

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, vocals *

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, vocals ;Additional personnel *

- bass

Charts

Album - ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

References

{{Authority control Moby Grape albums 1969 albums Albums produced by Bob Johnston Columbia Records albums